The new song by New Jersey gut-wrenchers Gatherers is as ugly as it is pretty and powerful.
Damn if Gatherers aren't good at making you feel bad. It'd be easy to describe the Bayonne, New Jersey, quintet as 'emo' due to the heartfelt honesty present in their music, but that lumps them into a niche with a lot of far less aggressive acts. These guys add a noise-rock snarl to their riffs and a sense of all-out desperation to their lyrics that elevate them out of break-up mix-tape fuel and put them squarely among those vitriolic bands who leave listeners spitting at the the mirror. I mean, we knew Bayonne is rough, but this...
The band's new track, Sick, Sad Heart, is basically a balsamic reduction of this vibe. The song's riffs have a fringe of distortion around them that mind remind listeners of acts ranging from The Faint to Anaal Nathrakh, while the the lyrics give off a sense of hopeless resignation that'll have listeners wondering what they have to lose in no time.
"This one lives in a completely different world from the songs on [last year's full-length album] We Are Alive Beyond Repair," says vocalist Rich Weinberg. "Rob primarily plays baritone guitar and an OP-1, creating this ugly identity for the song.
"Anthony's guitar sections created these massive backdrops for the song, especially during the outro," he continues. "He created these moments that play out like a collision in slow motion. Musically, we were in part inspired by Radiohead's Climbing Up The Walls and the album Full Collapse by Thursday. The lyrics were written from a visual place as always. Although there's no singular subject at hand, for me the song conjured up themes and visuals of inheritance, evil, sexuality, paranoia and masochism. To me, this song is the kind of dream where your teeth start falling out. It's this constant ringing stuck behind your eyes every minute of the hour. It exists under the skin, tempting you to cut it out. The song looks like the contrast of blood against the porcelain in your sink."
Listen to Sick, Sad Heart below:
Gatherers' are on tour now in Europe and the UK with Casey, so make sure to vent your spleen at one of the following dates:
April 2019
19 - Atwerp, Belgium @ Trix
20 - Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Dynamo
21 - Hannover, Germany @ Musikzentrum
22 - Berlin, Germany @ Bi Nuu
23 - Warsaw, Poland @ Hydrozagadka
24 - Prague, Czech Republic @ Modra Vopice
25 - Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachtof (sold out)
27 - Modena, Italy @ La Tenda
28 - Aarau, Switzerland @ Kiff
29 - Munich, Germany @ Backstage
30 - Karlsruhe, Germany @ Stadtmitte
May 2019
1 - Nurnberg, Germany @ Z-Bau
2 - Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
3 - Leipzig, Germany @ Conne Island
4 - Koln, Germany @ Essigfabrik
6 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
7 - Bristol, UK @ Exchange (sold out)
8 - Manchester, UK @ Rebellion
9 - Leeds, UK @ Key Club
10 - London, UK @ The Dome (sold out)
11 - London, UK @ The Dome (sold out)
